Is The Peja Trade A Sign Of The Raptors Not Using The Large TPE?

If the Raptors are acquiring Peja it can only be for one reason, cutting cap. If they're looking to cut cap then using the TPE could be counter productive to their goals/game plan. Do you feel they're still going to use the TPE and if yes what sort of deal do you feel they will be looking for?

I have a feeling BC will hang on to it for a while until some other things shake out... that said, if something amazing comes up he could jump at any time. Not using the TPE would piss a lot of people off because that was supposed to be the big asset coming back for Bosh.

If the Raptors are acquiring Peja it can only be for one reason, cutting cap. If they're looking to cut cap then using the TPE could be counter productive to their goals/game plan. Do you feel they're still going to use the TPE and if yes what sort of deal do you feel they will be looking for?

I think it will depend on the type of deal offered or pursued.

It is important to remember that if the TPE is not used fully or expires (although it would appear $2.2M of it is being used for the Peja trade) it only becomes unused cap space next summer.

Whoever the TPE is used on will most likely be overpaid given the contract and on a bad or cash strapped team. That should narrow some choices down.

I cannot see it being used for any wing or 2 guard given the talent the Raptors already possess and/or are looking to develop. This would take away high salary players AI, Kevin Martin, Rip Hamilton.

A big man in Josh SMith, Biendris, Nene or Kaman? Not necessarily supporting acquisition of either - just throwing it out there.

Smaller contracts in the $5-6M range with a few years left that see draft picks coming back to TOR are also possibilities.

The amount of flexibility the TPE provides is endless when it comes to facilitating trades. It is a matter of what is out there. I wish I was a GM.

Wouldn't it be hilarious if T.O. used the trade exception in a multi-team deal to facilitate Bosh being shipped out of Miami? That would be instant karma right there. I wouldn't even care what we got back in that case.

The $2.2M was a different TPE. Pretty sure you can't split up a TPE and use it in multiple trades.

I think you can split up a TPE, you just can't use it in conjunction with another player. For example, using the TPE with Reggie Evans to acquire Gilbert Arenas is illegal. However, using the TPE to acquire Jordan hill, and then using it again to acquire hakim warrick, is legal so long as there's enough TPE to absorb the contract $s.

The TPE used for the trade was not the Bosh TPE. I forgot which other trade, I think Andersen or even earlier but we got a couple million in TPE before Bosh left, so all of our $14.5M TPE is still with us.

I would really like to know the end goal of Colangelo's "retooling" and what his intended strategies are. Obviously he can't reveal too much, but he is so damn cryptic. He only mentions that he wants to develop the young talent and acquire future assets. As I am reading more about the recent trade, and seeing how much financial flexibility we have, I can't imagine how everything will play-out, especially with a possible lock-out. Its going to be interesting for sure.

Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

^ forget all those high school highlights he had a mosnter game last year on TNT where he LIT up Steve Gnash...i think he went for like 28 and 8 and hit about 5-6 bog shots in the last 5 mins of the game....Dude def has potential if hew can get some time...

I believe we only have the Bosh TPE and a part of it WAS used to absorb Bayless' contract because he could not be traded in a package before Dec 23 (since he was acquired by NOH via trade) per CBA rules, the Bosh TPE roughly stands at about $12.5 million or so now

If they're going to use it, my guess would be in a deal for a potentially very high draft pick and an albatross contract. Something like Brand + 1st rnd pick or Arenas + 1st rnd pick. If Colangelo uses it and/or Peja's expiring deal to bring in some talent and scrap the rebuilding phase then personally I'm done as a raptors fan until he's canned.

The good news is that it looks like BC is following the path set by Portland and OKC: stack young talent, expiring deals and picks, regardless of where and how they might fit on the roster. From there, you figure out who you want to keep and you flip the rest for more youth and picks, repeat until you've got a roster you like.

I don't think he'll use it unless he's blown away by the offer, and it makes the Raptors contenders right now. So he would have to get a top 25 player still relatively young. I don't think that's going to happen, so I think it will eventually expire. At least that's what I see based on the Jack/Bayless trade.

The TPE and expiring contract are eeriely somewhat similar. BC can cancel out/make neutral the effect on total salary exp. thru an acquisition using the TPE by not using the savings from Peja's contract (instead use some of it for say Weem's extension).